Nic is an Elefence trustee and a premier safari guide in Africa. This is just one of his stories.

To Dick Houston

I have included one of my personal favourite photographs (And experiences) from the season. This female leopard, on the left, had just killed an impala, and instead of feeding, she hid the prey, then immediately went off in search of her two year old son who she had not seen in days. As soon as she was in the vicinity where she last saw him she began to call. At first her calls were soft, so as to not attract unwanted attention, the intervals long. She stopped, listened for an answer and then continued to weave in and out of the thick terrain. The tension was palpable, she had to find him, instinct drove her. As time slipped away her calls became more desperate, more frequent, louder and then she froze! Her ears picked up, her face changed, we knew she had heard a response even though we didn’t hear a thing. She sat down and then out of the thickets a young beautiful male leopard bounded out to greet his mom. Affectionately rubbing his head against hers, jumping all over her, rolling on the ground and then repeating the sequence over and over again. She then expertly climbed a tree and her son soon followed, lying next to her he licked her face, excitedly anticipating her next move. It wasn’t long before she led him back to the unfortunate impala who was to provide life to the next generation of big cats.

Nic, operates a safari company which has been recognized as one of the best in Africa.

Read more about Nic by scrolling down to our previous posts Introducing Nic Polenakis and What Makes a great bush Guide. We are fortunate to have Nic as one of our trustees. You can see more of his operation on his website myprivateafrica.com.

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